W+K Made a Giant, Amazing Cuckoo Clock Out of an Oregon Maple for Portland Tourism

Must be time to visit

Wieden + Kennedy recently created a pretty incredible out-of-home tourism installation for Travel Portland: the tallest freestanding cuckoo clock in the U.S.

Chainsaw sculptor J. Chester Armstrong carved the clock, made from a single Oregon maple, in the national forest just outside Portland. It took three months to make—with help from metal sculptor Nicolas Gros, clock designer/gear consultant Laurent Worme, electronics consultant Mark Keppinger and local illustrator Patrick Long (who did the illustrations for the clock face). The clock features references to a number of Portland icons—Mt. Hood, Portlandia, beer, wine, bikers, farmers markets, roses, rivers, bridges and even Sasquatch.

W+K recently took the clock—which thematically ties into the "Portland Is Happening Now" campaign—to Seattle and Vancouver for tourism events in those cities. Every hour on the hour, hand-painted, wood-carved miniatures appear when the clock chimes. The events also featured "Portland-themed surprises, like coffee and donuts, a poet reading, a comedian performance, a tax-free tea party and naked bike riders," the agency says.

The clock is 24.1 feet tall by 9.5 feet wide and weighs more than three tons. W+K is now looking for an indoor location in Portland to house the clock through the winter months. Check out more images below, all courtesy of the Portland Oregon Visitors Association/Travel Portland.